WFSB Takes Avon Officials To Court Over Denial Of Plans For Doppler

KEN BYRON, kbyron@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

AVON — Members of the planning and zoning commission improperly relied on personal knowledge rather than experts when they rejected WFSB's request to put a weather radar system on Deercliff Road, the station argues in court documents filed earlier this month.

The commission voted 6-1 in June to reject WFSB's request to put its Doppler weather radar system on Avon Mountain and the station filed an appeal of that decision earlier this month. In that appeal, the station is seeking to have the decision overturned and for the court to compel the commission to approve the plan.

One of the issues that generated the most concern among residents and the commission was the radiation emitted by the radar, which is regulated by the federal government because of its potential impact on people's health.

Consultants for the station and the town found that any exposure to radiation from the radar would be well below the maximum permitted level. Nevertheless, one of the reasons the commission gave for rejecting the plan was that WFSB failed to show that the radar would not have a detrimental effect on people's health.

In court documents, station officials point out the low level of exposure to raditation and argue that other Doppler radar systems around the country have been put in residential areas.

"In adopting this motion, commission members expressly stated that they were relying on their own, personal knowledge in evaluating the application's compliance with applicable regulations, including technical matters such as standards for radio frequency emissions," WFSB officails said in court documents.

Kari Olson, the lawyer representing the commission in the litigation, could not be reached for comment.

Commission members also said that as a commercial activity the Doppler system would be non-conforming use in a residential area. But in the lawsuit, station officails argue that they met the criteria to allow a non-conforming use.

WFSB's Dopper system is now at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, but the building where the system is now is set to be torn down this fall. Because of this, WFSB is seeking to have the appeal expedited, said Timothy Hollister, its lawyer.

Hollister said if the matter cannot be resolved before the building at Bradley is torn down and the Doppler system there is dismantled then WFSB would rely on weather data from the National Weather Service. But he said the data from the NWS would not be as timely or as provide as much information as a system on Avon Mountain.

"WFSB would make an alternate arrangement, but the situation would create a public safety issue in central Connecticut. The effect on the court case is that we are working to expedite getting the appeal into the hands of a judge for a decision on the legality of the PZC's denial," Hollister said in an email.